Convenience foods are frequently packaged for sale in disposable containers. Such containers may take the form of open boxes or trays, where the containers require a sealable closure which can be easily removed and replaced by both packagers and consumers.
Cold foods such as fruit or salads, or warm foods such as pastas or stews, are often placed in open containers which require a lid. In particular, many such containers frequently possess flanged edges around their openings which can be used to help attach and retain lids. The containers can be covered with plastic films, which are able to form a seal around the flanged edges. These, however, can be damaged easily, are not suitable for stacking filled containers, and are usually not resealable once uncovered. Paper coverings, which are folded over each flanged edge and sealed with, for example, a label, are an alternative, but these are time-consuming for the packager to attach to each container and they may become detached easily. There are also rigid plastic coverings which engage with the flange along each edge, and thereby retain the lid on the container, but these are more costly to produce.
It would be beneficial to provide a lid for a food container with flanged edges, which is easily attached to and removed from the container, which is not easily damaged during transport or stacking, which is retained on the container reliably, and which is economical to produce. It would also be preferable for such a lid to be capable of being disposed in an environmentally friendly way.